November prompt for Fandom_muses
*Based on Uncanny X-men # 308; This prompt is public-but-of-course-meta due to ongoing plot elements*
What is the best gift you've ever received?
The best gift I ever received, oddly enough, wasn't for a birthday or Christmas, but for Thanksgiving.
It felt like a typical holiday at the mansion. There had been a rash of tragedies and defections that made it a tough year, even by our standards, but the Professor insisted, as he always did, on celebrating this holiday like the family he wanted us to be. I think he was right about that; it's a tradition Emma and I have tried to keep up with the students, in spite of everything that has changed. And on that day, years ago, I was honestly grateful to be distracted by that bit of elaborate normalcy.
I remember Storm was raking leaves -- a job that Jubilee and Hank were doing their best to undermine -- and then the rest of the gang started playing a game of pickup football. I would have been happy to join in -- sports contribute to team morale and discipline, and despite my reputation, I don't actually hate fun. But Jean had other things on her mind. She wanted to go for a walk, just the two of us, and she started out by telling a story about the first time we met, something I didn't remember. She distracted me, and I fell off a ladder. She used her powers to keep me from hitting the ground. (She swore that this happened, though I don't remember it at all).
From that point, we started talking about. . .well, all kinds of things. Everything we had been through as a team and a couple, all the insanity that had happened to us over the years. I remember feeling relaxed and happy during that conversation. I had been worried about the two of us; there had been some tension between us from outside sources, some of it on her end Logan and some of it on mine Psylocke, and I was perfectly aware that I hadn't always been as much of a partner that I could have been. But now we were clearing the air, I started to think that everything might just work out. I was grateful to Jean just for starting the conversation and honestly, just that in itself would have been enough to make it the best holiday I'd ever had.
Then, just as I was getting ready to go back and join the others, she said two words that changed everything.
"Marry me."
Note the imperative phrasing there. It wasn't a request. I don't even think I had to give her an answer.
This is probably a weird thing for me to be thinking about right now, much less admitting to everybody. Considering everything that has happened since then, I don't know whether Jean regrets (regretted? would regret?) the choice she made that day. But it meant a lot to me, that she could look beyond everything that had gone wrong in the past, beyond the mistakes that I'd made, and still want a future with me. It still means a lot, knowing that she ever felt that way.
What is the best gift you've ever received?
The best gift I ever received, oddly enough, wasn't for a birthday or Christmas, but for Thanksgiving.
It felt like a typical holiday at the mansion. There had been a rash of tragedies and defections that made it a tough year, even by our standards, but the Professor insisted, as he always did, on celebrating this holiday like the family he wanted us to be. I think he was right about that; it's a tradition Emma and I have tried to keep up with the students, in spite of everything that has changed. And on that day, years ago, I was honestly grateful to be distracted by that bit of elaborate normalcy.
I remember Storm was raking leaves -- a job that Jubilee and Hank were doing their best to undermine -- and then the rest of the gang started playing a game of pickup football. I would have been happy to join in -- sports contribute to team morale and discipline, and despite my reputation, I don't actually hate fun. But Jean had other things on her mind. She wanted to go for a walk, just the two of us, and she started out by telling a story about the first time we met, something I didn't remember. She distracted me, and I fell off a ladder. She used her powers to keep me from hitting the ground. (She swore that this happened, though I don't remember it at all).
From that point, we started talking about. . .well, all kinds of things. Everything we had been through as a team and a couple, all the insanity that had happened to us over the years. I remember feeling relaxed and happy during that conversation. I had been worried about the two of us; there had been some tension between us from outside sources, some of it on her end Logan and some of it on mine Psylocke, and I was perfectly aware that I hadn't always been as much of a partner that I could have been. But now we were clearing the air, I started to think that everything might just work out. I was grateful to Jean just for starting the conversation and honestly, just that in itself would have been enough to make it the best holiday I'd ever had.
Then, just as I was getting ready to go back and join the others, she said two words that changed everything.
"Marry me."
Note the imperative phrasing there. It wasn't a request. I don't even think I had to give her an answer.
This is probably a weird thing for me to be thinking about right now, much less admitting to everybody. Considering everything that has happened since then, I don't know whether Jean regrets (regretted? would regret?) the choice she made that day. But it meant a lot to me, that she could look beyond everything that had gone wrong in the past, beyond the mistakes that I'd made, and still want a future with me. It still means a lot, knowing that she ever felt that way.